The Granbazán story starts in the 1960s when Manuel Otero y Otero bought a land parcel planted with eucalyptus wood and feed for cattle. An entrepreneur, Otero dreamed of expanding the family’s business of fine foods to fine wines. In the 1980s, his son, Manuel Otero Candeira, realized his dream with the construction of Granbazán, a chateau with a magnificent building surrounded by pergola trained vines. Granbazán’s attention to detail and high quality wine has been instrumental in the quality revolution in Galicia as well as in raising the reputation of Rias Baixas wines to their rightful place among the top white wines of the world. Since 2017 Bodegas Granbazán is owned by Pedro Martínez Hernández, proprietor of the famous Rioja estate Bodegas BAIGORRI, who will set new Standards for quality and excellence, thanks to investments in vineyards and cellar technology.
The Granbazán winery is located in Vilanova de Arousa, very close to Cambados, the “World Albariño Capital.” The soils here havea high granite content, grown 262.4 feet above sea level, with over 1500 mm / 60 in. of annual rainfall. The maritime influence is very intense, providing a distinctive salty aftertaste, and a consistent ripening cycle. Harvest takes place thesecond half of September.The fruit is hand-picked, then gently de-stemmed and cooled for several hours at low temperatures in rotary macerators. Alcoholic fermentation takes place with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks.
Minimal invasive viticulture is a key practice to capture the elusive essence of the Albariño grape, so that thanks to the grand variety of different Albariño clones planted in our Finca Tremoedo and the complex terrain with various altitudes, orientations we are able to elaborate four completely different expressions of the grape variety Albariño from one and the same vineyard – origin makes the difference. Each one of the 10 plots are monitored separately according to its own microclimate, adapting all necessary work in the vineyard to the unique needs of each one. All plots are harvested separately, attending the needs of grapes / must / wine in a personalized manner during the winemaking.